Swim co-op gets first taste of competition
The Abbotsford/Colby swim co-op opened 2021 back to back meets last week, travelling to Marshfield for the Chase the Tiger Invite on Tuesday, Aug. 24, and then hosting the Pentathlon in Colby a day later.
In a sign that things are maybe, hopefully going in the right direction, the Abby/Colby swim co-op began 2021 by travelling to Marshfield High for the annual Chase The Tiger Invite.
The co-op has traditionally started their season at this relay competition, but this was their first appearance since COVID-19 forced tournaments to cancel.
Merrill won the competition by a final score of 258, with Medford narrowly defeating Marshfield for second, 178 to 177.
Abby/Colby finished sixth with 55 points. Abby/Colby ended their night with eight top ten finishes, including a pair of top three results.
The co-op began their first meet of 2021 by placing fifth overall in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Chloe Cihlar, Olivia Krause, Lexi White and Zanza Haemer finished with a time of 2:20.73.
Three swimmers took part in the 100yard freestyle. White was seventh in 1:05.82. Cihlar was ninth in 1:06.80. Ivee Conley placed 17th with a time of 1:20.32.
The third varsity race was the 100-yard IM. Olivia Krause was tenth in 1:21.31. Hailey Meyer was 14th in 1:27.46. Olivia Johnson placed 16th in 1:37.58.
Abby/Colby had two teams finish inside the top ten in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Krause, Cihlar, Haemer and White earned twelve points by taking sixth in a completed time of 2:01.15. The team of Meyer, Johson, Lily Graun and Chase Klemetson did not score points, but placed eighth in a time of 2:20.82.
Zanza Haemer and Olivia Johnson raced in the 50-yard butterfly. Hamer was 14th in 41.96 seconds, and Johnson was 15th in 46.19 seconds.
Senior Lexi White scored one of two top three finishes for Abby/Colby when she finished third in the 50-yard freestyle in 29.07 seconds. Graun was just outside the top ten in eleventh in 35.27 seconds. Klemetson was 14th in 37.15 seconds.
Freshman Chloe Cihlar proved the future is bright, securing Abby/Colby’s second podium finish when she captured third in the 50-yard backstroke in 32.76. Haemer finished eleventh in 38.02 seconds. Klemetson was 18th in the backstroke in 49.37 seconds.
Krause and Meyer finished eleventh and twelfth in the 50-yard breaststroke in times of 45.13 and 46.05 seconds.
Abby/Colby wrapped up the tournament with the team of Klemetson, Graun, Meyer and Johnson finishing the 8x50-yard backstroke in 4:50.96.
Pentathlon
It was a quick turnaround for the co-op, with the swimmers heading back into the water the day after their meet in Marshfi eld. Only this time, the ladies would be swimming in Colby, as they hosted their first competition of the year, the Colby Pentathlon. Swimmers swam fifty yard in the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, and a 100-yard IM.
Swimmers from Rhinelander, Merrill, Tomahawk, Black River Falls/Blair-Taylor and the Trident co-op of Ladysmith/ Bruce/Lake Holcombe and Cornell competed in five races to see who the top swimmer in each grade was.
Chloe Cihlar and Olivia Johnson represented the freshman class for Abby/ Colby on Wednesday. Cihlar was seventh out of 17 swimmers, completing her five races in a combined time of 3:39.05.
Cihlar swam the butterfly in 34.30, finished the backstroke in 33.11, the breaststroke in 43.36, the freestyle in 28.87 (third fastest among all freshman) and finished the IM in 1:19.41.
Johnson only completed three of the five events. She finished the breaststroke in 43.61, the freestyle in 37.84 and the IM in 1:38.01.
Olivia Krause was the lone sophomore for Abby/Colby. Krause was eleventh with a combined time of 3:48.05. She finished the butterfly in 34.23, the backstroke in 36.02, the breaststroke in 43.90, the freestyle in 31.57 and the IM in 1:22.33.
Hailey Meyer was the only junior in the pentathlon for the co-op. Meyer was 14th in a combined time of 4:13.07. Meyer finished the butterfly in 41.79, the backstroke in 40.32, the butterfly in 45.99, the freestyle in 36.06 and the IM in 1:28.91.
Three seniors swam in Abby/Colby’s pentathlon, but only Lexi White completed all five races. White was eleventh overall in 3:36.02. White completed the butterfly in 32.52, the backstroke in 33.82, the breaststroke in 43.46, the freestyle in 29.68 and the IM in 1:16.54.
Klemetson swam just the butterfly, completing the race in 58.70. Zanza Haemer swam four of the five races, finishing the backstroke in 36.91, the breaststroke in 45.67, the freestyle in 32.32 and the IM in 1:24.82.
Abby/Colby will be on the road for their next meet, journeying to Antigo for their first Great Northern Conference dual meet of 2021 this Thursday. The meet is set to start at 5:30 p.m.
